In the latest installment of Energy Metro Desk, former CFTC Commissioner and current ISDA CEO, Scott O'Malia, discussed his priorities for the financial industry in 2015. Mr. O'Malia said that harmonizing rules in the OTC derivatives market tops his list for 2015. In implementing the principles agreed upon by the Group of 20 in 2009, Mr. O'Malia explained that regulators created rules and regulations that focused on specific jurisdictions with "little thought" as to how the regulations would harmonize with other cross-border jurisdictions. According to Mr. O'Malia, the lack of regulatory

SIFMA recommended that the market close for the New Year's holiday in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. SIFMA recommended an early close at 2:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, December 31, 2014, and a full market close on Thursday, January 1, 2015, for trading U.S. dollar-denominated fixed-income securities in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan in observance of the New Year's Day holiday. See: U.S. Market Close Recommendations; UK Market Close Recommendations; Japan Market Close Recommendations; Press Release.

The SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an Investor Bulletin to provide information to investors who were harmed by securities fraud or other securities law violations. The SEC explained that, when an investor is harmed by a violation of federal securities laws, a number of different processes exist to help investors recover money that was lost through fraudulent investment schemes. In the Investor Bulletin, the SEC explained that, in some cases, a court or the SEC may order the individual or firm to disgorge the ill-gotten gains or pay a monetary penalty, which then may be

FINRA censured and fined Pershing LLC for violating the Customer Protection Rule and for related supervisory failures. The SEC Customer Protection Rule requires that a broker-dealer that maintains custody of customer securities and cash must comply with two requirements: (i) to obtain and maintain physical possession or control over customers' fully paid and excess margin securities and (ii) to maintain in an account at a bank a reserve of cash or qualified securities that is at least equal in value to the net cash owed to customers by the broker-dealer. According to the complaint, FINRA found

In the latest installment of the Energy Metro Desk, CFTC Commissioner J. Chris Giancarlo outlined his wish list for the CFTC in 2015. According to Commissioner Giancarlo, in 2015, the CFTC will actively complete outstanding Dodd-Frank rule implementation, fix flawed rules and work with the new Congress. However, he noted that his biggest wish is for a change in the "tone of the public debate" of CFTC-related issues that will be discussed and covered by the mainstream media. Commissioner Giancarlo pointed out that previous reporting on post-financial-crisis reforms has generated the "constant